This is supposed to be a workout to strengthen your hips. I did this last night- 10 reps each side each move. In between each move, I did 20 reps of an ab exercise, doing something different each time. It was hard to think of things that would be hard enough to only do 20 reps. 

So yesterday’s workout in all was 240 reps of the hip stuff and 240 ab reps.

Not sore today.

If it’s not storming, I’m going to run this evening, but it’s nearly 100% chance of t-storms, so I may just ride the exercise bike or something. And be sad because I’m not running. 

My dad ordered my Garmin today that I’m getting for my birthday. SO EXCITED.

Part 1

I didn’t mean to put this off for so long.

Semi-trigger warning. If you’re sensitive, you may want to scroll past. If you’ve known me for over a year, you’re probably fine.

Since this is about some unhealthy things I did to lose/try to lose weight, I’m going to skip most of the time when I was gaining.

During “the gaining years” (2003-mid 2008), I tried all kinds of diets. (These aren’t in any kind of order.)  I tried Atkins for a few weeks and learned that I am not one that can cut out carbs. I felt so weak and sluggish.

I tried “Weight Loss 4 Idiots,” and once again felt pretty drained after a week or so, this time because I probably wasn’t eating enough. You get 4 meals a day of certain foods in prescribed combinations and are allowed to eat until you are satisfied. I would just get hungry again too soon or satisfied on too little.

I tried another where your main intake was 3 protein shakes a day with unlimited grapes and pickles. The theory was that you needed something you actually chewed. I don’t think I lost anything on this one, maybe because I added peanut butter to the shakes.

I tried Slim Fast and the Special K 2 cereal meals plan.

When I finally did start losing from my high weight in June 2008, I wasn’t on any plan at all. It was a combination of no more birth control + cutting out secret eating + a little more exercise.

By the end of that year I was down to the low 140s from 170 and my weight loss stalled. I bounced around in the 140s, still struggling with secret eating, but doing better than before and running 1-2 times a week, more in the summer & holidays.

In August 2010, I decided to get back to the old me. I decided I looked gross (then I was 148- not actually overweight) restarting the image problems I had in college. I looked up the Weight Loss 4 Idiots again because it worked last time, if by “worked” you mean made the scale drop. I decided I’d just eat a bit more at each meal to keep my energy up.  Since the last time I used it, they had added a plan called “Beyond Calories” where you get to eat 6 mini meals a day. I liked the sound of that, so I purchased the plan and printed it out so I could continue to use it when it expired.

Each day you had 6 meals of foods in different combinations from 4 different categories that roughly were fruits, veggies, proteins, and all of them together.  You were supposed to follow the plan for 12 days & take 2 off, but I actually went 5 days on & 2 days off. And it “worked.”  I’d gain a little back each weekend, but would still average a couple pounds lost each week.  I didn’t feel totally unenergetic like other times. I had energy to run.

At the end of September, I found tumblr.  I found thinspo blogs and “healthy” weight loss blogs alike eating >1200 cals a day and exercising some of the off and thinking they were healthy because it’s not like they were starving. I joined myplate on livestrong.com and entered my calories of a couple days on the plans. I found out I’d been eating like those other girls- under 1,000, and I didn’t even realize it. I thought I was fine because I didn’t feel hungry.

Once I was down to 135, 5 pounds from my then goal of 130, I stopped the plan and switched to counting calories. I set the goal on myplate to 2 lbs/week witch put my net goal around 1000 cal/day. Some days I’d go a little over, but usually I was under that. I always tried to eat at least 1000, so I thought I was doing okay. I looked at others (I won’t name names, but most of them have also learned better now) who looked amazing and ate 1000-1200 and worked out more than me, so I thought I was definitely safe.

I didn’t actually learn more about what your body needs to sustain itself until the beginning of 2011. That was also around when I hit my “grown up” low weight of 127 and decided I was tired of counting calories.

I wish I could say that all of my weight loss was healthy and hold it up as an example of how you can eat more than you think and still lose weight, but it’s not. I’m sorry if I lose respect and lose followers for this. If you choose to leave because of it, please let me know that’s why. Normally I wouldn’t ask such a thing because I know there are so many reasons for unfollowing.

I am healthy now, and whenever I feel like I may not be eating enough, whether I’m maintaining or trying to get back to maintenance range, I plug in my intake to make sure I’m all right.

So there’s my story. I don’t know if it will help someone. Maybe it will help you not to judge when someone isn’t eating a healthy amount. They may just be uneducated, like I was. Help them out in a kind way. If they accept your help, then that’s wonderful.  If they blow it off, let it go. Maybe they’ll remember in the future.

“Hi Nikki. It is getting hot up here in Iowa, and I was wondering about what advice you could give to run in hot weather?”

My last set of 32 v-ups, unless I miscounted. They get pretty sloppy once I get tired, but the first 16 or so are pretty tight (though blurry in the video).

Week 4, day 1 (level 3) of push ups & v-ups: 21+25+21+21+32=120

They were hard today.

Feel free to critique me if you like.

Her stomach gets a lot smaller but her boobs get bigger?

Sorry, ladies. That’s not how it works.

Don’t set yourselves up for disappointment by striving for a body that’s unattainable through natural means.

Only a tiny fraction of women can have a flat stomach or defined abs AND still have a large chest. 

If you’re one of those lucky few, go for it, but most of you will have to choose.

Just don’t feel like your body is less perfect because you don’t have both.

edit:

ohgeebee replied to your link: How can people think this is a legit before & after and give it 5k notes?

Maybe she got a boob job?? Haha idk doesn’t seem real to me.

I’m not saying that it’s not actually her in both pics. If it is, her weight loss is commendable. It’s just not possible to have results like that without surgery, and some people seem to forget that and then lament their inability to have both a flat stomach and boobs.

What did you eat for breakfast?

Kashi GoLean! Crisp cinnamon w/ unsweetened vanilla almond milk

How much water do you drink each day?

Depends on how good I am about refilling my bottles.

What is your current favorite workout?

Running. 

How many calories do you eat each day?

However much I’m hungry for. I don’t count unless I think I haven’t eaten enough. 

What are your favorite healthy snacks?

• Greek yogurt w/ fruit and protein powder mixed in
• dark chocolate w/ almonds
• fruit by itself

What do you usually eat for lunch?

sandwich thin or flatout wrap with (usually) turkey or chicken, feta, and spinach; a salad or other veggie

I usually snack twice during the day, so I don’t eat  a lot at lunch

What is your favorite body part to train?

whatever running counts as, so legs & lungs?

What is your least favorite body part to train?

resistance training for legs

What are your “bad” food cravings?

chocolate things in ice cream and melty cheesy things.

Do you take vitamins or supplements?

I take a multivitamin, but not every day because I don’t want to get too much vitamin A

How often do you eat out?

not that much besides my secret eating

Do you eat fast food?

see above

Who is your biggest supporter?

Jeremy and tumblr

Do you have a gym membership?

nope

How many hours of sleep do you get each night?

I’m in bed at least 8 hours weeknights, but it takes a while to fall asleep, so I usually get 7-7.5. Fri. & Sat. nights I get 9-10. 

During the summers I get 9 every night and feel amazing.

Do you have a “cheat” day?

not specifically. I have times when I’m purposely more lax

Do you drink alcohol?

only in cough syrup, and I don’t even know if they make it that way any more

Do you have a workout buddy?

not really, but I’ll hopefully start trailrunning with Pam when I’m done with school.

What is the best thing that has changed about your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle?

finding cuter clothes at thrift stores

j/k

running faster

I would say more confidence, but I’m still working on that

spending less money on food

What was the last healthy thing you did?

finished water bottle #1

The challenge:

Bold= my comments and modifications.

enoughfluff:

This week I challenge YOU (pikachu) to:

• Find time this week to go on an exciting adventure. Grab your hubby, kids, mom, best friend, significant other and go on a hike. Don’t have any hiking trails by you? FIND ONE and DRIVE THERE. It will be worth it, I promise. Bring lots of water for hydration, some yummy snacks like granola and banana and explore the world! This challenge can be held off until the weekend if needed, I know we have crazy, hectic lives.

We actually just went hiking just over a week ago, so this won’t be happening. It’s very time-consuming and not possible during the week since we both work and we have other plans this weekend.  In fact, I’m pretty sure we’re going canoeing. That should count.

• If you watch TV, I’ve got a challenge for you. During EVERY commercial break do ONE of the following: 10 jumping jacks, 5 push-ups, 5 squats, 5 lunges, butt-kicks for 30 seconds, knee-highs for 30 seconds, OR shadow boxing for 30 seconds. Mix it up a bit every time and this will not only reduce your TV time (I’m pretty sure you’ll hate TV by the end of the week), but it will get you moving! Feel free to sub any exercises for ones that you prefer, but keep them around the 30 second- 1 minute time frame. 

I really never watch TV. We pretty much just watch movies.  

• Let’s see if we can kick our mile time’s tail again shall we? A couple of weeks ago I asked you to record your mile time on Monday and beat it by Friday. Well now I want you to take the PR mile time from that week and beat by this Friday. If you don’t remember your time, then run a mile on Monday and beat it by Friday. The only competition here is yourself. If you can’t run one…walk one!

Not doing this Monday since today’s a running rest day or beating it on Friday since it’s a rest day, too, but I’ll run one tomorrow and maybe on Saturday or next Monday and try to improve.

• Have a sweet tooth? Instead of dessert this week, opt for fresh fruit instead. It’s sweet enough to smother that sweet tooth without breaking the calorie bank. 

Normally I would skip this because I do allow myself treats, but since last week was so rough, I need to enforce some discipline. The only exception is tomorrow night we have a young couples get-together thing tomorrow and I’ll have one small thing. I’ll also allow dark chocolate if I’m really craving.  

Fruit honestly does nothing for my sweet tooth. If I try to smother it with fruit, I end up eating both fruit and chocolate.

Let’s do this.

Reblog & Share.

Honor Code.

How I did:

• We went canoeing on Saturday and had an awesome time.
• I didn’t watch any TV the whole week, so this doesn’t apply.
• I killed my mile time.
• I only had desserts/ sweets as my pre-planned  exceptions.

Good week!

Measurements:

week 1: 135.0, waist: 26 1/8, stomach 32 5/8, body fat % 20.3

week 2: 132.6, waist: 25 7/8, stomach 32 3/8, body fat % 20.4

week 3: 135.2, waist: 26, stomach 32 1/4, body fat % 20.4

week 4: 135.6, waist:  25 7/8 , stomach 32 1/4, body fat % 20.3

week 5: 134.8, waist:  26 1/8 , stomach 32 5/8, body fat % 21.0

this week: 135.0, waist:  26, stomach 32 1/4, body fat % 19.6 <— woot!

Welcome to the ride.  Please introduce yourselves here or in my ask.

In fit news, I did 21 push ups yesterday- 10 on the cubbies at school and 11 on the desk at home.  That was all I did because it really was a rest day. I wanted to get some of these modified push ups in, though, because I think that they’re actually helping my wrist feel better.

Today I’m planning to run 5 miles. Now that I’ve knocked out the 25 min. 5K and the 7 min. mile off my 30by30 list, the only running goal (besides 360 miles- I’m up to 160 with 3 1/2 months to go) left is to run 5 miles under 43 min. I don’t expect to do that today because it’s back in the 80s and I’m still working on acclimating to the heat. 

Tomorrow we have a field trip to the Battle of Selma exhibition, so I’ll be outside on my feet all day. In the evening, I’ll most likely do abs, arms, and possibly legs depending on how tired my feet are.

Saturday we plan to go canoeing. It’s the first time I’ll be wearing my new wetsuit. The air may be warm, but the river is still cold.  Then I’ll go for a run in the afternoon/evening. Distance will depend on how much energy I have left.

“Why are you jumping for joy?” you may ask.

It’s because of this:

What is the significance of 6:59.59?

Yayayayayayay!

I can cross that goal off my list. Thank you enoughfuff for the OPFABS challenge of beating your mile time. 

I didn’t think I was going to make it, but when I hit the marker on the track where I had 0.1 to go, I switched to a full on sprint. My jaw dropped when I looked at my watch. I then walked all the way to my car so I could take a picture of my watch before running the intervals.

I didn’t do much in the way of intervals because I was running short on time and wanted to take pictures.

So that was my run today- the first one since Monday.

I’m actually pretty impressed with myself to push through the pain for as long as I did. I was planning on 45 minutes and made it 39- not too bad.  The tingly feeling was very weird. My shoes weren’t too tight, so that wasn’t it. Anyone have any ideas?

I’ll tell y’all all about CrossFit & my workout I did later yesterday & possible good news about my wrist tomorrow.  

Any news I need to know about/ ideas about my tingly foot?

I ate my grilled cheese for national grilled cheese day!

Awesome run!  With the pull/chin ups, I did 5 the first time for each then 4 the other 2 times. It went like this: run ~0.25, 5 modified pull ups, run 0.6, 5 mod. chin ups, run 0.6, 4 mod p.u., run 0.6, 4 mod c.u., run 0.6, 4 mod p.u., run 0.6, 4 mod c.u., run 0.35.

Now I need to get my stuff together because we’re going camping/hiking tomorrow after work.

This is probably the best one from last night as far as sharpness goes.  I may post a few more just for questions concerning form.

****************************

My “fitspo” yesterday:

• Jeremy- running not because he struggles with his weight or because he likes it (it really makes his knees ache), but because he wants to keep his heart strong.
• The 4 gray-headed people running in a spread-out line. The last lady was grinning from ear to ear and made me smile, too.
• The lady running with what looked like her daughter tagging along behind on her bike.
• The lady with beautiful, snow-white hair power walking with her 1 lb weights. She walked about as long as I ran.
• The group of mostly heavier women running up & down a small hill for their boot camp class. Later I saw them doing push ups and mountain climbers on yoga mats in the parking lot.
• The group of children aged around 5 up to teenagers running endurance and agility drills

More and more,  I find myself inspired not by perfect looking fitness models (who decided that look is “perfect,” anyway) or even by real people faster or fitter than I am. I am inspired by anyone I see working hard, working with their bodies to make themselves better.

Where do you find inspiration?

April Goals

Better Christian:

• Learn 6 new verses.
• Work on retaining the ones I’ve already learned.
• Don’t miss any days of my Bible reading.

Better Wife:

• Continue cooking “real” meals 2x a week and “slacker” meal 1x a week.
• Do some kind of housework at least 5 days/ week.
• Scrape the bathroom walls 2x/ week.

Better Runner:

• 14 runs
• Don’t let the heat make me slower. Maintaining my current pace is okay.
• 65 miles

Better Body:

• Keep my waist below 26” the whole month- if it jumps over, get it back down within 2 days.
• Ab workout 2x/ week. 3 is better. 
• Arms & legs at least 1x/ week.

Better Other:

• Keep up with OPFABS so that my after picture will show a difference even though I’m all covered up.
• “Do all things without complaining and disputing.” ~Philippians 4:12 (this could go under better Christian, but it applies to everything.

I suppose that’s enough. I tried to make most of these quantifiable, though I don’t know how well I’ll do on tracking it.

boo. It was starting to feel marginally better.

OPFABS weekend #2:

This Friday to Sunday, I challenge YOU to:

• Cut out all Soda (this includes Diet Soda) - If you’re like me, this is going to be a toughie. 
• 30 squats before each meal. Run to the bathroom at a restaurant if you have to!
• Learn a crazy dance move/routine - trust me trying to perfect a crazy move will have you sweating up a storm (you could always post it to show us your mad dance skills!) - Bottom line: have fun with this one!
• 2 min of jump rope and 2 min of shadow boxing on Saturday and Sunday morning.

• I stayed away from soda and drank water at both fellowship meals this weekend.
• Sometimes the squats came after, but I did 30 around each meal.
• Didn’t do the dance thing because we were pretty busy. I had other things that were more of a priority. 
• I got my jump rope & shadow boxing in.

Weight-related progress:

last week: 135.0, waist: 26 1/8, stomach 32 5/8, body fat % 20.3

this week: 132.6, waist: 25 7/8, stomach 32 3/8, body fat % 20.4

Down 2.4 lbs and 1/4” on waist & stomach. Since both weight & inches went down, I don’t know how my body fat went up.

Other progress:

• 27/180 miles
• 5 miles time 44:52

other things:

• I had an amazing, juicy navel orange at lunch.
• Jeremy said I was, “looking good” this morning. 
• I’m wearing my “new” skirt again, but with different things, so I’ll probably take a picture because I’m not completely sure if it works.